Month: March 2022

We’ve had our new Boston Terrier “Vinnie” in our home now for about three months.

He’s a different dog, for sure.

There is more noise and activity in the house. Boston Terriers are energetic, fun-loving dogs who can play hard and loud, which Baby and BonBon would do regularly before Vinnie entered the picture. However, the youngster brings a whole new level of competitiveness to the arena. He barks at the others when he gets excited and emits a weird howl when he gets frustrated. He also has a weird compulsion to challenge Baby to a wrestling match every fifteen minutes, or so it seems.

We think this odd behavior is explained by his upbringing before we rescued him. It appears that he wasn’t well socialized. That would explain his excitement and his tendency to get pissed when he can’t win the tug-of-war game. Although he loves to play “bitey-face” with both older dogs, he never draws blood, so he fits in with the other, more experienced practitioners of the art.

Vinnie is less than two years old. We raised Booger and BonBon from seeds, so they came to know what we expected at a very young age. JayJay was three years old when we rescued him, but he was a trained and well-behaved guy from the get-go. In contrast, little Vinnie was shuttled between a few owners, and at least one of them treated him poorly as a puppy (we think as an “outside” dog!).

Vinnie doesn’t do well on-leash. He’s now had some obedience training and he’s responsibe around the house; however, out in the community is another matter. The little bugger continues to pull while on-leash, and exhibits a burning desire to run to humans and other dogs if he spots them on his “walk”. Again, if he gets frustrated, he will let out that weird howl, which scares the bejeezus out of the other dog and his handler. He means no harm; he just wants socialize.

I need to work with him on this; it’s totally unacceptable and embarrassing.

Also, when he meets another dog on the street, particularly a big one, he tends to get in trouble by putting his mug in the other dog’s face. Some of these encounters don’t end well, as the offended party might lash out. Vinnie needs to cool it and take things a bit slower, casually move around the dog, smell its ass, and compare notes, so to speak.

He’s not aggressive, as in wanting to fight, but rather he is too impatient to make a new friend. We’ve had a number of other dogs around him in our home, in our yard, and at other people’s homes. Generally, after the initial awkwardness, he gets to playing with them and they all have a great time.

Vinnie has an innate urge to dominate. He’s an A personality, certainly not a shrinking violet. It takes him awhile to figure out where he is on the food chain when he gets thrown into a pack environment. Just like he has in our home, he will find his role in the pack. In our house, Vinnie is tied with BonBon at runner-up position behind Baby.

One thing Vinne has done in our home is to glom onto me, pretending that he’s my special sidekick. The others know where they stand and don’t seem to mind that he claims the area of the sofa nearest to me at TV time. Sometimes, he naps on my lap. Vinnie has also claimed the area next to my left hip while we’re all sleeping at night.  I think it’s pretty cool that Baby and BonBon are chill with this behavior; perhaps they are going out of their way to make Vinnie feel welcome in the house. I love them all the more for doing this.

As a matter of fact, the introduction of Vinnie into our home has made me appreciate the qualities of the other two Bostons all the more. Baby is the Nice One, the Big Brother with the wonderful temperament, a pack leader who is always ready to spend time with Vinnie, even if he’s being a pain in the ass. BonBon is the Sweet One, a great companion to Vinnie who likes a lot of the same things (bone chewing, lounging in the backyard, competing for toys, sounding the alarm) and is comfortable snuggling/napping against him. Those two are BFF’s.

Like all Boston Terriers, they play hard and sleep (nap) often. While Baby prefers to nap on the sofa, Vinnie and BonBon are often found catching a few winks on our bed, or the bed in the guest room, or curled up together on the little dog bed.

Vinnie has some food issues. He’s a quick eater and, if he had his way, would move over to BonBon’s dish and clean that one up, too. We’ve never had a “food competition” problem with our other Bostons; they’ve always respected each other. However, with Vinnie, we have to move their dishes about twenty feet from each other in order to maintain order. Sometimes, Charlie sits in a chair near BonBon to wave off Vinnie if he finishes his meal and gets an urge to help himself at BonBon’s expense. I have not seen Vinnie going after Baby’s food while she was eating; he’s probably too smart for that.

Speaking of food, the little guy is my shadow whenever I’m in the kitchen or pantry, always looking/hoping for some dropped edibles or a treat that I might throw his way. Vinnie has springs for legs and the 12″-tall dog can jump up on our 37″-high kitchen “island” if his nose tells him to. I saw him do it just once; after that, I don’t leave food up there unattended.

The hair loss problem that Vinnie exhibited when we took him on seems to be gone. His coat is nice, now, and he is an amazingly handsome dog, with the best Boston Terrier markings in the pack. He does, however, still have the alopecia around his eyes, which make him look like he’s wearing pink sunglasses. I don’t know if we can resolve that malady, but I will pursue it with the vet next time we see her.

All in all, Vinnie is a 7 on a scale of 10 after three months. Once he gets fully socialized and can behave like a gentleman on-leash, we will have a gem of a Boston Terrier.

Our fingers are crossed.

Gasoline prices are going up right now and consumers are upset. Blame is being thrown around. Soon, angry villagers will be storming the White House.

Of course, the cost of everything is going up, virtually every month lately. Food, housing, vehicles… you name it, it’s costing more. The phenomena is called “inflation” and it occurs when there’s a lot of money in the economy chasing limited resources. As the saying goes, “That which is scarce is dear.”

Gasoline prices ebb and flow. They’ve always done so in the U.S.: lowest in the Winter and then higher in the Summer when folks take vacations and put a lot of miles on their cars. More demand for fuel equals higher prices that Big Oil can demand. The energy companies are, after all, in the game for profit, and the more the better. It’s called “capitalism” and is why C.E.O.’s are rewarded so handsomely when shareholder values goes up.

As far as I know, the Federal government is not in the oil production business, so it really doesn’t set gasoline prices. However, the United States is one of the largest petroleum producing countries in the world; in fact, we export oil to other countries. When I say “we”, I mean the Big Oil multi-national corporations that produce energy on American soil.

All of the petroleum produced in the world constitutes an energy commodity which has value. This value is determined by how much petroleum is available for consumption and that amount is dependent upon how much energy extraction is going on at any given time.

Ergo, the price of oil can be, and often is, manipulated by multi-national oil producers working together in a business relationship called a “cartel”. Oil drilling can be accelerated or slowed down. During the pandemic, the slowdown in the world economy resulted in less demand for petroleum. Oil production was intentionally slowed and prices dropped dramatically.

No Federal officeholder was responsible for that.

Spot shortages, resulting in higher prices for oil, can occur when the petroleum supply chain is disrupted. The current war in Ukraine, and world pressure against Russia (a major energy exporter), is an example of such a disruption. At the current time, it is more of a fear of disruption than the real thing, but that uncertainty affects the petroleum “market” just the same. Buyers who are afraid of future supply shortages are willing to pay more now for assured deliveries.

President Joe Biden doesn’t control this global petroleum market any more than Donald Trump did when he was President. America doesn’t own the world, doesn’t control the cartels, and doesn’t direct the multi-national corporations, either.

The Federal government does control a “strategic reserve” of oil that has been saved for national emergencies. A President can release some of that petroleum into the market to resolve short-term shortages in supply. This is sometimes what antsy politicians suggest to get consumers off their backs about high prices. It’s a short-term band aid that really accomplishes nothing except deplete the strategic reserve, which is a critical asset in time of war.

Our country already produces enough oil for our own needs; we really don’t need any more.

The Federal Reserve is planning to slowly increase the cost of borrowing money to correct the inflation problem. The impact on prices of everything should slowly decline, as there will be fewer dollars chasing those limited resources.

A major stock market correction would speed all of this up, although something like that could throw a lot of people out of jobs. Prices would go down as both production and available money would decline. We are about ten years overdue for a stock market crash.

Such an event is not inconceivable if the current war between Russia and Ukraine broadens to include more European countries. If N.A.T.O. becomes involved, hence the U.S., the global economy would go into the tank. China, the other superpower, would probably not sit idly by while this happened: it would either take sides or use the confused state of affairs to do some land-grabbing of its own.

Accordingly, the stock market has been jittery in recent weeks.

I think the last thing we need to be concerned with right now is the pump price of gasoline. Anyone who uses this metric to judge how well (or poorly) the government is doing is a fool. Have these same idiots been tracking the price increases at Disney World lately? There’s a lot of “payback” out there: leisure industries who couldn’t make a dime in the pandemic are catching up, big time. Shareholders are like hungry dogs: they need to be fed.

It’s capitalism at work, and red-blooded Americans are supposed to love capitalism, free enterprise, and all that.

Yeah, but it sucks to pay more for gas.

My wife Charlie, who is 76 years old, recently discovered who her biological father was. The truth of the matter was hidden from her by her Mom and Dad for fifty years and the deception was assisted by others in the family… all of them probably rationalizing that lying was okay in this instance because it was for a “noble purpose”.

These were all devout Catholics who profess a belief in the Bible. I don’t know for sure, but perhaps they weren’t paying attention during the homily about Exodus 20:2-17 : “Thou shall not bear false witness”. (Okay, they could have been napping in their pews.) No matter, they could always fall back on God’s permission to do some “white lying” which is found in Biblical passage… there isn’t one!

One good thing about the Catholic faith is that a believer can “confess” to lying, receive forgiveness from their priest, and then continue to lie until next week’s confession. But, for fifty years, lying to your daughter?

Lies are lies. Lying begets more lying, then there are the cover-ups, which require more lying, etc. “Oh, what a tangled web we weave when we first practice to deceive.”

Think about “Santa Claus”.

Parents lie to their children about Old Saint Nick and about how he brings toys to good kids. So, maybe your brother wasn’t a good kid but, gee, he got presents, too! And, then the youngster notices that his presents were made in China, not the North Pole. And, then Daddy is noticed in the middle of the night putting “Santa’s” gifts under the tree. And, then the child is taken to Macy’s to “meet” Santa, who is obviously a guy in a fat suit with bad breath and a smelly fake beard. The good kid asks “Santa” for a particular toy and, on Christmas morning, he gets something else.

What is being taught here? That parents lie.

Going back to the story about my wife Charlie’s parentage, it was obvious to her (and her friends) as she was growing up that her parents were lying to her: she didn’t look anything like them or her five siblings. Is it not surprising, then, that her Mom and Dad had problems with her as an adolescent? She rebelled because they didn’t respect her enough to be honest with her.

I’ve been around the block a few times so I’ve noticed that: (a) lies have a way of being exposed; (b) people do not like being lied to; and (3) people do not trust liars. Most teens and grown adults are capable of hearing the unvarnished truth and dealing with it. Children are not as dumb as parents think they are, they have feelings, and they don’t forget “unfair” things done to them.

I had a religious period in my life where I absorbed a key tidbit of wisdom which was not dissimilar to that passed down by my parents: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”. I know enough about the Bible to recognize that, apart from all the fables contained therein, this Golden Rule encapsulates all the moral teaching in the rest of the Good Book. I don’t like lying and I try not to practice it myself.

Lying is definitely a slippery slope; once one gets comfortable lying, it becomes a habit. And then, it might seem okay to do it, again and again.

Wouldn’t it be horrible to have a job where you were required to lie to customers for a living? How would you sleep at night?

Salesmen must be soulless individuals. These adults are required to lie, exaggerate, embellish, distract, and fool customers to earn a dollar. They must sell folks “something that they don’t need for more than it’s worth”. And then, feel good about themselves for being so devious and clever. Sales is a very competitive, dog-eat-dog business where only the most ruthless liars achieve success. I’ve known many salespeople; to me, they exude an oily feeling.

Of course, “men of the cloth” are unabashed salesmen, too. Their lying involves knowing things that are unknowable, promises of forgiveness for bad deeds, and heavenly rewards for true believers. In order to impress their customers, some claim that God personally confides things to them.

Televangelist Pat Robertson, a Biblical salesman who likes attention, claimed this week that Russia’s attack on Ukraine was “compelled by God” and signals Armageddon, the “end of times”. Not to quibble, but Reverend Robertson has claimed, on many prior occasions in the past 40 years, that God told him the “end” was upon us all because of legalized abortion, homosexuality, and the practice of non-Christian religions. The end never came. Conclusion: Either the Rev. Pat is a liar or, excuse my blasphemy, God is.

Politicians are, by nature, professional liars. They sell themselves to the voters as knowledgeable, honest, and forthright and, once elected, line their pockets and spend the rest of their time lying about opponents and what they’re actually doing in office (which is mostly mischief). Politicians are expected to lie by their constituents and are encouraged to lie by Party officials… to gain advantage over the opposing Party’s liars. “May the best liar win!” seems to be the Politician’s Creed. Is it any wonder why most citizens don’t trust their government?

Lying has become the National Pastime in America, easily replacing baseball and football.

Everyone seems to have jumped on the “bearing false witness” bandwagon in recent years. It is probably a by-product of the Digital Age, which enables professional liars, attention-seeking podcasters, gossipers, pedophiles, scam artists, racists, scare-mongers, politicians and conspiracy theory loonies to disseminate “fake news” (i.e. lies) instantaneously to jillions of people throughout the World.

It’s a quick way to get attention and it’s fun (to many people). Some kids torment their classmates in social media with scandalous lies, disseminated to everyone at school. Often, these liars are congratulated by their peers for their nastiness.

Con men are consummate liars. Pretty much everything they say or do is a lie, positioning themselves to loot large amounts of money from gullible people. Lying, to these individuals, is as natural as eating and sleeping, and often con men lie when telling the truth would serve them better. They can’t help themselves: it’s a pathology wired into their being. A recent ex-President would be a good example.

Con men can be women, too.

We recently watched an NBC news feature about Elizabeth Holmes, the founder of Theranos, a biotech firm. She’s a smart, good-looking gal who had a burning desire to be a Steve Jobs or Bill Gates from a young age. Her vision, to do all manner of blood testing from one drop of blood, was deemed to be impossible by actual scientists. Not to be deterred, the impatient 19-year-old girl dropped out of college, charmed her way into the pocketbooks of some rich folks, and established a company to design and build her “magic box” that could process the pinprick of blood. Despite all the ballyhoo that she generated, and the $800 million that she raised from sucker investors, Theranos had zero success in building the innovative technology that she promised. Additional lying, exaggerating, and deception ensued, orchestrated by Ms. Holmes. Eventually, the con was exposed, Theranos went under, investors lost every penny, and Elizabeth Holmes was found guilty of fraud. She was Bernie Madoff in a dress: a heartless con artist. Holmes will now receive a slap on the wrist and move on to her next con.

When one reaches for his wallet, he should ponder the old adage: “If something seems too good to be true, it probably is.” Liars and cheats are everywhere.

A recent phenomena that I’ve observed is a special section in the online Washington Post newspaper called “Fact Check”, where intentional misinformation (lying) is called out and the lies vs. facts are compared… for those who give a damn.

We didn’t need this back in the day… when bald-faced lying was not in style. Personal honor meant something when I was growing up. Your word was your bond, “you can take that to the bank”, etc.

As I said before, in today’s society, there seems to be no stigma attached to lying: everyone seems to believe that everyone else is lying, so they take liberties, as well. Accomplished liars, like Donald Trump, are respected and rewarded with business opportunities and high public office.

It has now come to the point where people are being punished for telling the truth.

One example is the so-called “stolen election of 2020”. There has been no proof offered by complainants that any significant fraud occurred in that election. However, bad loser Trump continues to push the fable as do quite a few Republican Party sycophants (who got reelected in the same “fraudulent” election!). Responsible G.O.P. elected officials who have called the ex-President on his lying have been punished by the Party (example: Senator Liz Cheney in Wyoming). Trump’s Super PAC, which has oodles of money for upcoming campaigns, is supporting opposing Republican candidates in primary elections… to unseat Republican Party officeholders who won’t back Trump’s Big Lie about his 2020 election loss.

Over in Russia, citizens who use social media and mention the word “invasion” in talking about Vladimir Putin’s unprovoked war against the sovereign nation of Ukraine… are now subject to imprisonment for up to 15 years for honestly calling a spade a spade.

George Orwell, back in 1949, predicted that it would come to this in his novel “1984”.

The dystopian world that Orwell envisioned has arrived, and it’s not pretty.

According to 23 and Me genetic research, I am among the less than two-tenths of one percent of all human beings who have blue eyes and red hair.

I don’t like the taste of asparagus but do like jalapeno peppers. Speaking of eating, I eat one item on the plate at a time, which seems odd to some people. I don’t like coffee and I don’t smoke, although I am somewhat addicted to Diet Cokes. I don’t wear jewelry, and I’m not sexually attracted to women with large boobs. My IQ is around 130, I read about 100 pages per hour, and I’m analytical. I am a natural introvert.

Why am I like this? I don’t know that one learns to like spicy foods or get turned off by buxom ladies. I certainly didn’t opt for red hair and the ridicule I got in grade school for being different from the other kids. Sometimes I wished I was less analytical.

As Lady Gaga said, “I was born this way”.

My wife Charlie is unlike me in most ways. Charlie likes coffee, jewelry, asparagus, is impulsive and is a slow reader. She is an extrovert, people love her, and she loves to love people.

She was born that way.

We two “opposites” have been married now for about 48 years. I think that proves that there is room here on earth for people of all types to enjoy the wonderful diversity of the human species. As the French say, “Vive la difference!”

A bill was passed by the Florida legislature and recently signed by Governor DeSantis which prohibits sexual orientation from being discussed in Florida public schools. It’s called the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, the idea being, I suppose, that if homosexuality is not discussed in school, that it will… go away.

It seems to me that a lot of people (particularly Conservatives and Christians) think that being gay, for instance, is a choice. I believe that there has been sufficient genetic and behaviorial study done in the past thirty years to indicate that homosexuality is a sexual preference wired into the person similar to my curious dislike of asparagus. There is no single “gay gene”, just like there is no “asparagus gene”, but there are clues in the research to indicate that several genes in combination with others may affect same-sex attraction.

Choosing to be gay, to be different from your peers, to subject oneself to ridicule, physical intimidation and even death threats … would be a very poor “choice”: only an idiot would do it. It would be as ridiculous as someone “choosing” to be an Albino, to have a cleft palate, to be deaf and blind, or to be poor.

If children are not educated about the differences in human beings and how it’s okay, for example, to have red hair, then those people who are different from most people in the community will be viewed as wrong, in some way. This leads to persecution of a minority, and we all know where that ends up. Oriental people, for example, have been subject to horrible atrocities in the U.S. since the Covid-19 pandemic was blamed on China. The people getting attacked are American citizens, for Heaven’s sake.

If children who are wired differently than others are perceived to be defective or Satan’s Spawn, then they will have less self-confidence, will withdraw socially, and consider self-destructive things. Suicide rates are high for sexually confused pre-teens and teens. If they were taught that differences in human beings are normal and, in fact, wonderful, then they would view their existence in a more positive way.

If everybody was like everybody else, what a boring place earth would be!

Charlie and I have known many gay people over the years, have socialized with them in our/their homes, and have relatives who are gay. There’s nothing wrong with them; they’re just wired a bit differently than us. We don’t feel threatened by their sexuality in any way, and they certainly aren’t interested in ours. So, what is the big deal?

We’re very “open” people, by the way… we even consider Trump cultists among our closest friends. They’re wired differently, too. It’s okay.

Should gays be “converted” to straight people? It’s a popular idea in the Bible Belt. The verdict on such “therapies” is that they don’t work. And why should they? The people that really need help are the folks who are afraid of gayness, dark skin color, Jews, people who speak in different languages, and things that go “Boo!” in the dark.

I used to hate my red hair because I was different from my young peers. I look at it differently as an adult, particularly since, at 74 years old, I still… have plenty of that cursed hair! I’m now proud and grateful for those genes that provided for this and feel sorry for those old school chums of mine who were dark-haired and popular… because they now have male-pattern-baldness and not much thatch on top. Hee, hee!

Thank goodness that I was born this way.

What’s happening this week?

Well, die-hard baseball fans are not happy. Major League Baseball has postponed the beginning of the 2022 season because the greedy owners and greedy players can’t come to agreement on sharing the enormous and lucrative MLB pie. This has happened before (on eight occasions) and this is the first one since the players’ strike of 1994-95.

Each time the owners and players get into one of these unseemly wrestling matches, the fan base declines. Last time this happened, fans were fed up and many revolted. It took some extraordinary measures (i.e. performance enhancing drug-induced home run hitting) to attract disgruntled fans back into the fold. Owners and players were both complicit in this scheme; however, when it became victim to the political “war on drugs”, the owners expressed indignity and cooperated with investigations targeted with ferreting out “the cheaters”.

The whole charade tarnished the sport forever and many fans just shifted their sports enthusiasm to NFL professional football and moved on.

I used to be a L.A. Dodgers fan, and put up with the shenanigans, but pretty much lost interest after the Houston Astros beat the Dodgers in the 2017 World Series by cheating, something reluctantly acknowledged by Major League Baseball (who allowed the Astros to keep their illegally obtained World Championship).

Not one player involved in the cheating scheme was punished by MLB. Contrast that with the lifelong ban that Pete Rose has endured for betting on baseball games. This “professional” sport is messed up.

So, who cares how much money the bums split up? Hopefully, fans will abandon them and there will be less filthy lucre to share.

The brutal Russian invasion of Ukraine continues. Ex-President Trump has softened his praise of his buddy Vladimir Putin as have Trump’s fawning Fox News sidekicks. G.O.P. leaders who initially remained silent as Trump congratulated Putin on his “genius” move, have belatedly expressed indignation at Russia’s aggression and are now, of course, blaming the Biden Administration for not doing enough to support the Ukrainians.

What chutzpah! Everyone recalls how the Trump Administration withheld previously-authorized military weapons foreign aid to the Ukrainian government in 2020 in an effort to extort assistance in Trump’s reelection campaign. This coordinated Russia-U.S. effort (to smear Hunter Biden, Joe Biden’s son and the Ukrainian President Zelensky) resulted in a second impeachment for Donald Trump. Those “concerned” Senators, ostensible supporters of the Ukraine, are the same ones who saved Putin’s buddy in the impeachment trial.

Have they no shame? Unfortunately, you know the answer to that one.

Gas prices are on the rise again. Now, how can that possibly happen? It must be “ineptness” on the part of the Biden Administration, say those same Republicans shade throwers.

Now, I’m certainly not as smart as a professional politician, but even I know that the President of the United States doesn’t control the cost of petroleum. No President does or ever has. Unfortunately, petroleum is a commodity on the world market, the price of which is determined by cartels that are external to our nation. Big producers like the Saudis, Venezuela, the U.S., North Sea (Britain and Norway), and Russia all have a say in the price of crude. Multi-national corporations make the decisions, not anyone in the White House.

Anything that impacts oil production negatively causes the speculative price of oil to rise. World markets are messed up right now because of the Ukraine war and the economic sanctions that Western powers are exerting upon Russia as punishment for its aggression. Who knows where this game of arm-twisting will end up? A broader war is possible. So, speculation drives up the price of strategic commodities, like oil. And we pay more for gas at the pump.

Other horrible things could be in the offing because of the Ukraine war. Like cyberattacks on our infrastructure. Tighten your seatbelts, Folks.

The “awards season” has begun in Hollywood. Nominations for Oscars, Golden Globes, the S.A.G. Awards, Directors’ Guild, People’s Choice, Emmies, and the other 100 self-congratulatory orgies are being announced. Who really cares anymore? There are so many of these overblown events that they’ve become trivialized and pretty much ignored by everyone except the participants, who spend a couple of months patting themselves on the back.

Most of the movies being produced nowadays are Marvel Comic’s derivatives, animation fantasies aimed at children, or sequels of prior successful action movies. I mean, how many Rambos and  Batmans do we really need? Or cute Disney cartoons? It’s hard to find an original story line anymore; everything seems to be re-worked scripts that we’re pretty familiar with and can predict what will happen. Special effects have gotten better with time, I will grant that. Those guys earn their recognition.

Who will win the Oscar? Who cares?

The nomination for the next Supreme Court justice has been made by President Biden: it’s a woman and she’s African American, to boot. The lady, Ketanji Brown Jackson, seems to be pretty qualified: a Harvard Law School grad, served as a clerk to Supreme Court Justice Breyer, and is a current Federal judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals in D.C.

The Republican Party, which has played some games with Supreme Court nominations in the past, will probably try again to dirty up the water in Senate confirmation hearings. This is what they do. However, the Democrats have a slim majority in the Senate and should be able to confirm Mrs. Jackson. Hopefully, the proceedings won’t get too rancorous, although several Senators like to get publicity by acting the fool. After all, there is an election cycle coming up. Maybe someone will accuse the nominee of being born in Africa? Or, that she keeps secret information on her laptop computer?

In other news, there’s some type of protest convoy of irate truckers approaching Washington D.C. It’s not exactly clear what the purpose of the protest is (it seems to be evolving), but the genesis seems to have been the Covid-19 restrictions that are mostly, thanks goodness, being lifted throughout the Nation and the world. A similar trucker “protest” occurred awhile back in Canada and was cheered on by Fox News talking heads (yeah, those same nitwits who applauded Vladimir Putin’s attack of Ukraine!).

I suspect that the truckers are being orchestrated by an unseen hand and that the protest is simply another iteration of the “legitimate political discourse” supported by the January 6^th Capitol Riot apologists on the Republican National Committee. The bottom line, I think, is that these supposedly irate truckers simply do not like a Democrat in the White House and want some press attention so that they can flaunt their 2024 Trump for President banners. (Hey, by the way, who’s paying for their diesel fuel and time off from work? Just saying.)

Hopefully, the redneck goons won’t attack the Capitol this time.

In local news, our motorhome continues to reside at Temecula Valley RV (400 miles away in Southern California) where repairmen there have been completing a checklist of to-do’s since January 5^th. There have been delays due to “supply chain issues”, which is fairly common of late. (Maybe those “protest” truckers need to get back to work and do their jobs?)

The RV repair delay is, thankfully, not a big deal at this point, since we don’t have plans to use the rig until late June. However, it would be nice to get it back to Mesquite, as my friggin’ golf clubs are in the storage compartment under the motorhome. I would like to try out my bum right shoulder and see if there’s been any improvement since my cortisone injection. I’m scheduled to meet with my orthopedic surgeon soon to decide on surgery, if needed.

In other local news, our good neighbor/friend Sandy has a new puppy (“Sadie”), a Cavapoo.

The little thing, only about 5 pounds, is a cutie and really gets along with our three rambunctious Boston Terrier bruisers. The best part of all of this is that Sandy now has a 24/7 companion, and her mood is markedly improved.

That’s what dogs do: they put “life” into a home.

The state of the union here in Mesquite is, accordingly, very good this week.

American taxpayers hate waste in government and those politicians who campaign against wasteful use of tax dollars generally do well at election time.

Ex-Senator William Proxmire (D-Wi) made a career out of feigned rage over wasteful spending. For many years, he orchestrated an annual public relations stunt where he would announce a “Golden Fleece Award” for the most disgusting waste of government funds. The gimmic worked: the Senator held office for 32 years.

If Bill Proxmire was alive today, still serving the good citizens of Wisconsin, he would undoubtedly have voiced his disapproval at ex-President Trump’s extravagant waste of money on his “beautiful” border wall that “Mexico is going to pay for”.

I have no doubt that this $15 billion boondoggle would have earned one of Proxmire’s famed Golden Fleece awards.

As we all remember, Trump campaigned in 2016 with a promise to build an “impenetrable” wall that would protect America from an ongoing invasion by Mexican “rapists, drug dealers, and murderers”. It was the centerpiece of his campaign, his genius solution to the illegal immigration problem. (It was also a campaign gimmick, a dog whistle to excite patriotic Americans who believed that Mexicans were the cause of many societal ills.)

A total of 450 miles of Trump’s ballyhooed wall were eventually built along the 1,954-mile border with Mexico, with 400 miles of this new wall replacing border fencing already in place. The Trump wall design featured a heavy-duty metal fencing which was supported by deep concrete footings and rose to a height of 30’. This structure cost an average of $20 million per mile.

Mexico paid for none of it.

Recent information obtained from U.S. Customs and Border Protection via the Freedom of Information Act reveals that Trump’s “impenetrable” wall was cut/breached 3,272 times in three years by parties unknown (assumed to be Mexican smugglers) using power tools available at local hardware stores. The same source information revealed that many smugglers simply used ladders costing about $5 in materials to scale the expensive security fence. As one reporter said, “The fencing is no match for a $15 hand saw.”

As was pointed out back in 2016 when Trump was proposing his “big, beautiful wall” that was going to solve the illegal immigration problem, most illegal immigration happens at U.S. border vehicle crossings or where Latin American “tourists” simply fly into the United States and then stay there. Trump’s proposed wall would not impact that large mass of intruders, nor would it be economically possible to fence the entire Mexican border. As critics pointed out, any fence can be tunneled under, climbed over, or breached with cutting instruments.

Or, simply walked around, in the 1,500 miles that have never been fenced.

In the end, a total of 54 miles of new border barriers were installed (the rest of the wall was replacement) under the Trump Administration. All of it is, apparently, quite vulnerable. The “problem” that campaigner Trump promised to remedy was not resolved in the least, and American taxpayers shelled out $15 billion.

Donald Trump did not earn reelection, but he is quite worthy of a Golden Fleece Award.

There seems to be a contest among Republican officeholders nationwide to see who can be the most fawning Trump toady… by demanding a recount, audit, or decertification of the 2020 election results.

Why?

Because ex-President Trump declared, in advance of the 2020 election (and the 2016 election, which he won, by the way) that the “election is rigged”. Thus, when Trump lost the 2020 election by 7 million votes nationwide, there “had to be” widespread illegal voting and malfeasance by elections officials. It had to have happened. Period.

If Trump said it, therefore it is true, say the cultists and elected bootlickers.

Thus, Republican Party officeholders in many “Red” States have demanded investigations into the election. In every case thus far, no significant error or illegality has been discovered even in audits that were paid for by the G.O.P. Every single court case has found the “election fraud” claim to be without merit. Trump’s own Attorney General Bill Barr declared the election fair and square. Mitch McConnell, the Senate Minority Leader and most powerful Republican elected official in the United States, recognizes Joe Biden as the legitimately-elected President.

This has not stopped Donald Trump from continuing to publicly assert that the election was tainted and that he actually won re-election. (It was a “hoax”, he said, just like Covid-19.)

No doubt to show fealty to the ex-President, and curry favor with him in the 2022 and 2024 elections, a substantial portion of G.O.P. officeholders in State and Federal positions continue to parrot the Trump mantra: the election was fraudulent. Many Senators and Congressmen, when asked by reporters, refuse to publicly admit that Joe Biden won the election and continue to demand measure to tighten election security. In other words, fix something that doesn’t need fixing.

Haven’t we had enough of this foolishness? Evidently not.

There was an editorial the other day in the Arizona Republic, the largest daily newspaper in the State of Arizona, that bears repeating.

In it the Editor lays out the obvious: If you are one of the Republicans officials who was elected or re-elected in 2020, and you believe that there was widespread voter fraud in the election, why have you not yet resigned? A person of good conscience and sound morals would not accept victory in a tainted election, right? If you actually believe that the election was fraudulent (as you publicly say you do), then that means your election was illegitimate.

The editorial goes on to say that not a single Republican who has spread conspiracy theories and made outlandish pronouncements of voter fraud without providing verifiable evidence has resigned. In addition, “none of those who were elected have demanded that their results be audited.”

This pretty much explains the reality that all Americans, despite their political party affiliations, know to be true: the election was legitimate. The other indisputable truth: Trump is just being Trump, trying to keep attention focused on himself. It’s political theater, plain and simple.

The shame is that powerful elected officials, State and Federal, continue to cower before him and kiss his ring so that they will get his endorsement and receive campaign funding from his huge PAC in the next election.

Speaking of dishonorable elected officials, how about the three U.S. Congressmen who voted against a bill to make lynching a Federal hate crime? “Lynching”, if you didn’t know already, happens when a group of racists (usually in the South) hangs a person (usually an African American) to death for being Black. This is a no-brainer, right? Evidently the rest of Congress thought so: the bill passed 422 to 3. The proponents of lynching included Congressman Roy (R-Tx), Congressman Massie (R-Ky), and Congressman Clyde (R-Ga), all God-fearing, Bible Belt Republicans. As the Good Book says, “Do unto others…”

The dishonorable Congressman Massie is on a roll this week. A House Resolution was introduced expressing support of the sovereign nation of Ukraine, which was recently invaded by Russia. The Resolution was approved, 426 votes to 3. The three Congressmen who indicated support for the invading Russians included Gosar (R-Az), Rosendale (R-Mt), and, of course, Massie (R-Ky).

Representative Adam Kinsinger (R-Ill) stated that it was “unreal” that three fellow Republicans voted against the resolution.

Really? Is anything “unreal” anymore in American politics?

Maybe the three Congressmen, who are running for reelection, heard Trump’s footsteps. The ex-President is a buddy of Russian President Putin, and recently called him a “genius” for invading Ukraine.

Deeper we go into the disgusting rabbit hole…

Yeah, I know we live in the Southwest and dry weather is part of the deal. But, really, virtually no rain in January and February? C’mon, God, cut us a break!

If it hadn’t been for the unseasonable rain that we received in December, this part of Nevada would have been without measurable rain since last March, as I recall. (It could have been February 2021.) That’s pretty dry, Folks. Even the Mexican Fencepost cacti are crying out, “No Mas! Necesita agua, Senor!”

Our landscaping maintenance man “Kenedy” has a routine that he’s used for decades in this area: he turns off the drip irrigation on December 1 and turns it back on around March 1. That’s four months of no water for our many plants; however, desert vegetation is dormant in the Winter. Besides, it gets cold out here (as low as 28 degrees in the mornings) and we don’t want water freezing in the drip lines: could rupture them. So, it’s a four-month water diet for our plants, cacti, and tumbleweeds. They’re tough, they can take it.

Normally.

This year was different. Even the friggin’ Joshua Trees in the Virgin River Valley were looking like Auschwitz survivors and Barrel cacti were screaming for “Agua!” If you know where both of those species live (in the hottest and driest parts of the desert), then you know that they don’t complain a lot. Scorching 118 degree heat and an occasionally thundershower is all they need to thrive.

We didn’t even get that in the past year. I’ve had to do some emergency hand-watering.

The Desert Tortoise, the official reptile of the State of Nevada, is hiding deep in its burrow, hallucinating about moisture-rich edibiles…

The local Virgin River, which drains the southwestern corner of Utah, crosses the Arizona Strip for a few miles, and enters Nevada near Mesquite, has been a mere ribbon of water in the past couple of years. I’m guessing that this wannabe river helps to replenish groundwater stores in this region… which is experiencing a growth spurt.

There is a lot of concern by many in Mesquite about the future of domestic water availability here in town. The local Virgin Valley Water District doesn’t seem to be too concerned, as it continues to supply “can serve, will serve” letters to Pulte and other large residential developers working the area. Pulte, alone, plans 500 new homes this year and we can probably expect another 500 from the other builders in Mesquite.

Where is all of that additional domestic water going to come from??? It doesn’t rain much in our watershed and a water district can only mine the underground aquifer for so long. Water shortages have become a common feature in Southern California (where we immigrated from) and rationing is becoming common there. I hope that isn’t our future here, as I would hate to lose all of my drip-irrigated landscaping.

This conversation is making me thirsty: I need a Coke.